The present invention relates to fluid storage systems, and in particular to determining properties of fuel tanks and their contents.
In fuel systems such as those on aircraft, for example, it is desirable to accurately determine properties related to fuel tanks, such as the volume and/or mass of fuel remaining. These tanks may exist in complex environments, such as the wing of the aircraft, for example. Various factors may affect the orientation of fuel within these tanks, such as tilt of the aircraft and bending of the wing. It is desirable to know how each of these factors are presently affecting a tank, so as to facilitate accurate determination of remaining fuel.
Prior art systems have implemented capacitive probes within fuel tanks, for example, to determine the volume of remaining fuel. Electromagnetic fields are utilized by the probes to determine the level of fuel within the tank, which may then be used to calculate a remaining fuel volume. However, due to strict regulations, the amount of energy permitted within a fuel tank is limited. This necessitates additional safety features in the design and implementation of the probes. These safety features, along with the number of capacitive and/or other probes (e.g., densitometers, temperature probes, or other probes) required to be installed for accurate determination of a remaining fuel volume can result in significant installation and maintenance complexity and cost. Therefore, it desirable to implement an improved system for determining properties of fuel tanks.